The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-12-29
CHILDREN OF THE RICH.
THE SOURCE or AL TRUE HAP
PINESS .UNkNOWN 70 THEM.

Facts Concerning the Most Neglected
Glass in Amy COMMUNICATIVE Re-
straints which Wealth Imposes-Noth-
Ing to Wish and Plan For-Contrasts.
There is apparently nothing more need
cd at this time than society for the
amelioratiOn Of the condition Of the chill
drcn OF the rich" The poor children ap-
peal to the sympathies Of every one; we
have them with us, on our hearts and con-
sciences always, but the children of the
rich arc the most neglected class in any
community.
First, they are neglected by their own
parents. What with the summer months
at gay watering place, and the winter
spent in the gitldy whirl Of society, It Is q
fortunate child of the rich who knows its
own mother. The fathers business occu.
pies his time. and thoughts; from" 20
to 60 years Of age he finds that NIL OF
his faculties are required to repair the
damages Of one panic and provide In i'd
vance for another II the child Is wen
clothed and has his or her school bills sent
in regularly, the man of business cares
believes lie has fulfilled all the obligations
OF an indulgent father, conscious that he
has done more for his child than was done
Cor him.
Thus the child Is driven back on his
nurse, or tho groom, or the butler-ac-
cording to age or condition-for sympathy
and fellowship Here, II not his manners,
his morals and HIS views Of life are
formed.
DELIGHTS THAT ARE DENIED.
But Of these disadvantages the child u
not himself conscious until, later in life,
he reviews his beginnings. What most
troubles him Is the restraint which the
wealth Of his parents imposes ON his
action. He II cut on from the associates
Of his own age, II we except few Gagged
animals like unto himself. OF tho free
dom Of youth he knows little or nothing.
The delight Of anticipation u denied BY
tho qualification In advance Of al wishes
Tor balls, bats, kites, and tho thousand
and ono things which the happy boy Of
the poor makes for himself. No rich boy
ever felt the thrill Of delight q conscious
power which comes to the boy who has
sailing to tho stars and almost drawing
him sftsr it. The boy Of tho rich has
bought for him those lopsided, fantastic
japanese abortions which do mot take
naturally to the varying waves Of our up.
per atmosphere.
For the child Of the rich there D moth.
Ing to wish Tor, 70 plan Tor, to deny ones
self for; everything ID q his command,
and his boyish nature II Smothered BY his
unusual privileges. II he y permitted to
60 to the circus at al, Il b only with some
old fellow whose memory Of his youth has
faded, and to whom the smell Of tho saw.
dust has no suggestion Of past delight,
and as he paid at the door for . reserved
seat the poor child Of destiny has no thrill
Of fear and terror whom the boy with the
lemonade whispers to the man u the door
and points significantly n his direction.
IN Ms NATURAL STATE.
A boy In his natural state % an animal
who revels In tho freedom Of disorder, and
under tho system Of doing Tor himself
learns to do for others. Every faculty hs
has IL quickened by exercise and hidden
strength developed under necessity. But
the SON Of the rich d, - we have said, .
Gagged and pampered animal. Before no
reaches years Qf conscious intelligence he
n the victim OF ennui, ahd al ambition
has died within him. He u not spurred
On by the thought that one day he may b
president; he does not understand why
one should want to be president, and, be-
sides, he learns from school books that e
II position reserved for tho sons Of poor
but honest parents.
The contrasts, - they suggest them
selves, are innumerable-they are sum.
Client for . volume. Enough have been
noted to convince tho reasonable man
who has In hts mind any recollection of
his youth, that the children Of the rich
have a. yet an unrecognixed claim on our
sympnthies; that they live without fear or
hope; that they are denied alike the pains
and pleasures Of early years; that they
are imprisoned from the beginning, and 80
hedged In BY conventionalism that the
source Of all true happiness 10 ever an.
known to them. It ID strange that In thu
period 81 the world, with philanthFopical
societies innumerable, We should not have
organised . Society for the Amelioration
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